ESPN has started releasing the results of their yearly NFL poll that includes asking league execs, coaches, scout, and other members who the best players are at each position. They usually get some interesting results as it paints a picture of the difference between talent in the eyes of fans and the league in most cases.
The next position they discussed this week was the offensive tackle group in the NFL.
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For the Vikings, they had one representative in Christian Darrisaw, who earned high marks from the league in the latest poll. He came in with an average ranking of ninth overall, with the highest mark coming from someone having him inside their top five.
Fowler writes, “Darrisaw’s severe knee injury is the primary issue with his standing on the list, as he’s recovering from a torn ACL and MCL. In minicamp, Darrisaw conducted individual drills but hadn’t graduated to 11-man work. The Vikings will take it slowly with him, and plenty of evaluators still see him as elite. . .Despite the injury costing him 10 games, Darrisaw produced an 88.9 pass block win rate on 197 snaps along with a 79.7 run block win rate. The Vikings gave him a four-year, $104 million extension before last season.”
Fowler also included a quote from a veteran NFL offensive coach, who said, “He’s got it all, he has power, good feet, balance and range.”
Darrisaw will likely miss the beginning of the 2025 season as he recovers from a knee injury that had him miss the second half of the 2024 season. He was a participant in limited fashion at the team’s minicamp last month but once he is back and fully healthy it is clear now that the Vikings will have one of the best tackles in the NFL.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: Vikings OL earns high praise in new league wide poll by ESPN